Been looking over several. Forster Benchrest, Redding BR, Lyman 55, and others.... all very similar and will probably all do the exact same thing. Anyone use a measure like this (volume) and have a suggestion as to the best one as far as user friendlyness?

"Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln

I have RCBS, Hornady, and Redding. All get the job done. Don't know which is my favorite, and haven't seen any noticeable difference in charge consistency between brands. All seem to provide about +/- 0.2 gr fluctuation between charges with ball and short cut powders measuring the most consistently. A friend of mine has the Lyman measure Mike refers to, and I've used it
during mass loading sessions for pd shooting trips. It seems to work
about as well as the others I've used.

Just recently bought the Hornady "Lock-N-Load" auto charge measure a couple weeks ago, but haven't even opened the box yet.

Ted

Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.

Because I've broken/lost parts on a couple of them during moves, my father-in-law gave me one, I inherited one from my dad's reloading gear, and I bought the L-N-L auto charge because I usually load up 2000 - 4000 rounds every time I go shoot pd's. I've got multiples of half my reloading tools -- presses, scales, dies, measures, calipers...

Ted

Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.

Some expensive models will thread right onto a factory powder canister (like a 1 lb container of IMR4831) which is handy and repeatable micro adjusters can also be handy, but all measures seem to throw with about the same amount of precision, if they have a powder baffle.A powder baffle effectively re- creates the old B&M 2nd powder chamber and isolates a consistent volume of powder from the varying weight of the column of powder in the hopper, making for precise, consistent throws. Whatever you get, make sure to get a baffle with it, or make your own.A plastic flip- up lid from a Kraft Mayo jar is a perfect drop- in fit on a Lee Pro Auto Disc measure, for instance.

My old beaten RCBS Uniflow is almost 40 yrs old and with baffle in place, it never varies as much as 1/10th grain and most throws are exact, once it settles in after a few throws... provided I don't let the hopper get too empty.

I think that's true, there's very little practical difference in application, IMHO. They all do well with ball powder, all are squirrely with stick powder, all tend to bind on flake powder; just the nature of a rotary volume dispensing tool with different powder forms. I have an old Redding Master, forerunner to today's Redding models, and have used most others. I really fell there is no marked advantage to any one of them after the user develops a 'feel' for operating with the powder he's using; that takes experimentation for the best method and practice for highest consistancy of operation.

That said, the Lyman 55 is potentially the most versatile because of it's three sliding chamber adjustments. Adjust the slides to make a small chamber for light charges and a big one for large charges, etc. The 'knocker' device works for some but doesn't for others; we each have to learn what technique we need to obtain the most consistant drops for ourselves.

I think that's true, there's very little practical difference in application, IMHO. They all do well with ball powder, all are squirrely with stick powder, all tend to bind on flake powder; just the nature of a rotary volume dispensing tool with different powder forms. I have an old Redding Master, forerunner to today's Redding models, and have used most others. I really fell there is no marked advantage to any one of them after the user develops a 'feel' for operating with the powder he's using; that takes experimentation for the best method and practice for highest consistancy of operation.

I agree.

I've adopted my own technique that I believe has improved charge consistency with all powders, especially the more problematic stick powders. On the "up" (fill) stroke of the handle, I bump the handle a couple times against the stop to "jolt" the powder down into the fill chamber, then again on the down (dispense) stroke, I tap the handle against the stop again a couple times to ensure all grains exit. I'm essentially duplicating (or attempting to duplicate) the same function that Lyman's "knocker" is intended to perform. After 1000's of repetitions of this, I've managed to do the same thing pretty consistently, and get essentially the same results regardless of which manual measure I'm using at the time.

Ted

Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.

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